There have been so few posts since Christmas that I was wondering if a fatal virus had been released to most members because of global warming and the associated big freeze up north. Here in Brisbane Australia we have just had over 36 days of +30 degrees heat setting a new record. North of us Townsville has been flooded with 1.5 Metres of rain. Some nearby areas have had over 2 M. One town had 500 MM in 12 hours. Water heading north has swollen a river to 60 Km wide. The estimate is over 1/2 million cattle dead. Is this weather or climate?

Here in the cloud forests of Panama we have not had a drop of rain since November. Driest conditions I have witnessed in 10 years. The old timers remember this having happened a couple times in the past but it is concerning as we watch to the heavens daily hoping for rain.....

Our resiliency resembles an invasive weed. We are the Kudzu Apeblog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/website: http://www.mounttotumas.com

Every second of weather everywhere on the planet is now being affected by ciimate change. Just about everywhere we are seeing odd and anomalous weather. This is caused by the atmosphere being warmer then ever before, and the wind and humidity and heat capacity and temperature cycles being different then ever before in recorded history.

Up here in central Alaska we are having a record warm winter with little snow. The first part of the winter was warmer because the Chuckchi Sea and Arctic Ocean froze over much later then usual, leaving warm open water all around Alaska. Now our warm weather is being caused by intrusions of warm wet air into the Arctic from the Pacific.

Everything is changing everywhere. And it will continue to change to something even more bizarre as the planet continues to warm.

This is the second wettest year in California since I came here in 1986. We just finished the wettest week I can remember including one of the approximately six hailstorms I can recall since I arrived. We have had storm fronts lashing through and I have twice a day gone out back and groomed the plastic grass of tree droppings for the last 3 days.

This is all happening as we are having open house to sell the California place. Today we have two groups of lookers coming back for second tours. If any have cash I could be out of here in a month.

In view of the storms, the decision to go with plastic grass was the correct one. Most comments seem to agree that water conservation is a major concern. Me, I'm just glad the gutters are open, I'm raking the bark chips back in the plannting beds as the rain washes them away.

Here in the cloud forests of Panama we have not had a drop of rain since November. Driest conditions I have witnessed in 10 years. The old timers remember this having happened a couple times in the past but it is concerning as we watch to the heavens daily hoping for rain.....

jedrider wrote:Isn't this the dry season anyway, however, and the rest of the year there is sufficient rainfall?

Yes that is why the current conditions cannot be considered a drought. It is now the dry season. This year however the dry season started unusually early in November.

Specifically up here at high elevations we usually get winds coming over the continental divide in the dry season from the Caribbean that are laden with moisture so that all the epiphytes in the forest are misted with a fine rain a couple times a week. This year the winds have arrived but they have been bone dry with none of those misting rains. Our pastures are usually green maintained by these mists. This year they are brown.

The rainy season starts in April/May when the monsoon rains from the Pacific drift up and we get pretty regular afternoon rain showers.

Unusual conditions this year so far. We never had the situation where we were looking skyward anticipating rain.

The stream that feeds are hydro system is still running strong as well so we are producing full 7.6Kw. No reduction in this stream that is fed from an underground aquifer. In the 10 years that we have lived here only once for about two weeks at the tail end of the dry season in May did we experience a drop in the volume of this creek.

There are lowland sites here in Panama where creeks have already run dry and there are indigenous villages that depend on this water. They are no having to walk long distances for cooking and washing water.

Our resiliency resembles an invasive weed. We are the Kudzu Apeblog: http://blog.mounttotumas.com/website: http://www.mounttotumas.com

Here in northern California, the fog is vastly decreased from only a decade ago. The climate now is a new one, that of a semi-desert that is creeping all the way to the coast line. Our redwood forests are fog harvesters. No fog, maybe no more redwoods, except the giants can still tap into near under surface water, but I wonder about that. There is little redwood forests left (because they were systematically cut down), but what is left in the parks are like near-extinct species in a zoo.

The island of Dominique might present some interesting opportunities. Fairly depressed, hard hit by Hurricane last year many folks left and now Ross University has decided to pull out. I suspect there are buying opportunities there. But it’s for the adventurous.

The island of Dominique might present some interesting opportunities. Fairly depressed, hard hit by Hurricane last year many folks left and now Ross University has decided to pull out. I suspect there are buying opportunities there. But it’s for the adventurous.

Living on an Island with increased risk of Hurricane/Tornadoes/Sea Level Rise? No thanks.

No, I wasn't familiar with the site. I am not that retired yet, so I have trouble relaxing that much. However, it seems like a nice life there.

Here in Tasmania we had lots of bush fires but there have been worse ones before.

The experts said there was no way to put the fires out, and they might burn for another 6 weeks, since we would not get any rain in February.

Three days later the big rain started and most fires are out. One day last week with the last fires still burning we had the interesting situation with summer snow where the firefighters could not work any more because of too much snow making it impossible.

That’s interesting. I watch the weather fairly closely because we live on a boat and travel, so it’s important. Most of the time the weather 3 days out is pretty good, 5 days you have a clue, beyond that is a crap shoot. Then again the weather here is pretty consistent, not a lot of variability.

I do recall a road trip to Rochester, NY from Philadelphia. Leaving to return home, October, they predicted light snow showers, then some accumulation, then a few inches. By the time I got to the PA Turnpike they said the B word, blizzard. No shit Sherlock! I got on but they closed entrance ramps behind me. Luckily I had 4WD and got through, although there were blown down trees that closed the shoulder and slow lane, none blocked my passage.

Now it looks like we might be hit by Cyclone Oma. It might miss us but could hit south east Queensland. That would fill the dams but nobody likes to be hit by a Grade 3 cyclone. The last one to come this far south was 1981.

JimBof wrote:There have been so few posts since Christmas that I was wondering if a fatal virus had been released to most members because of global warming and the associated big freeze up north. Here in Brisbane Australia we have just had over 36 days of +30 degrees heat setting a new record. North of us Townsville has been flooded with 1.5 Metres of rain. Some nearby areas have had over 2 M. One town had 500 MM in 12 hours. Water heading north has swollen a river to 60 Km wide. The estimate is over 1/2 million cattle dead. Is this weather or climate?

In answer to Jim's questions, I would say it is both climate and weather. The weatger manifesting the early stages of a change in the climate regime. As for where is everybody? Well since I have been a member usually they're are no more than 20 active members at one time of which only only a handful may be posting simultaneously

When I first joined up here it was peak fallout from the GFC, usually 200+ active members online, new posts every few minutes, full on characters hashing out long arguments, it was a very busy forum, busiest I've ever been involved in by a long way. Times have changed, fundamentals haven't.